Last Tuesday, Leonard Preston, a criminal with a long history of offenses, terrorized a woman inside her own home in the Lower Garden District. Preston committed a home invasion in the 1200 block of St. Andrew Street.

Fortunately, she was not killed, but as he rifled through her belongings, Preston traumatized the frightened homeowner. The next day he was arrested as police discovered the victim’s stolen cell phone in Preston’s possession.

Currently, Preston is behind bars after being arrested for aggravated burglary. Last Tuesday, he should have never been on the streets of New Orleans terrorizing anyone. Preston was convicted of first-degree robbery in 1997 and sentenced to life in prison under the “three strikes” law. Instead of remaining in prison, it was discovered that Preston was granted a release from prison by the Parole Board in January of last year.

In the aftermath of the arrest, New Orleans District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office tweeted, “Over our opposition, the governor commuted his sentence and the state parole board set him free.” However, Governor John Bel Edwards did not commute the sentence, so the District Attorney’s office deleted the tweet and apologized. Preston was released due to the passage of a 2016 law that expanded parole eligibility.

In a statement, the Governor’s Communications Director Shauna Sanford blasted the District Attorney, claiming that Edwards “was not involved in Leonard Preston’s case.” She also blamed the DA for not researching the case and “irresponsibly putting out inaccurate information.”

Not surprisingly, the liberal local media jumped on the story and criticized the District Attorney for the erroneous tweet. In fact, the tweet was partially correct for the Governor is totally responsible for Preston and thousands of other offenders being released from prison.

The Parole Board, which made the horrific decision to release Preston, was appointed by Governor Edwards. Thus, he is ultimately responsible for their decisions.

In 2016, the legislature passed the bill expanding parole eligibility and it was signed into law by Governor Edwards. Without the Governor’s support, the bill would have never had a chance of passage in the legislature. In fact, the Governor held a big signing ceremony to celebrate the enactment of the law.

The following year, Edwards rammed through a major package of “criminal justice reform” laws that led to the release of thousands of additional prisoners. According to law enforcement authorities, approximately 30% of these released offenders have returned to criminal behavior. Sadly, six have committed the ultimate crime, murder.

In our state today, thanks to John Bel Edwards, there are thousands of criminals like Leonard Preston who are freely roaming the streets of our state. Hopefully, some will be rehabilitated and not return to crime, but many others will prey on innocent people.

The criminal justice reform issue should be emphasized by the challengers running against Governor Edwards in the upcoming election. Releasing criminals may impress liberals in statewide media outlets, but it will not impress the voters. This will be especially true after voters learn that many of the released inmates, like Leonard Preston, have returned to the type of behavior they know best, committing crime.

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs locally at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and at 10:00 p.m. Sundays on PBS affiliate WLAE-TV, Channel 32, and from 7-11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990-AM & www.Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on www.JeffCrouere.com. For more information, email him at jeff@jeffcrouere.com

Remember the days when candidates for U.S Senator or Governor would speak to thousands of supporters at weekend rallies all over Louisiana? Huey Long was the master, mainly because he promised he’d give voters just about anything they wanted. A long line of colorful politicians followed in Huey’s wake. But those days seem to be long gone and forgotten.

Governor Jimmy Davis could draw a crowd on parish courthouse steps by blaring out a chorus of “You are My Sunshine.” Gov. John McKeithen was in high cotton while giving stump speeches on the back of a pickup truck. Edwin Edwards would mesmerize crowds in south Louisiana with his Cajun humor. Senators like Russell Long, Bennett Johnson and John Breaux, though not as flamboyant, still could both draw and relate to large crowds of voters all over the state.

Fairs and festivals used to be huge draws for statewide candidates. John Kennedy kicked off his run for the presidency before a crowd of over 200,000 at the Crowley Rice Festival back in 1959. It was an absolute must for aspiring governors, U.S. senators, and other statewide offices to attend the Frog Festival in Rayne, the Crawfish Festival in Beaux Bridge, the Natchitoches Christmas Festival, the Peach Festival in Ruston; the list goes on and on.

If you haven’t noticed, there’s a gubernatorial election going on in Louisiana that is only a little more than a month away. You sure would not be aware of this contest if you relied on candidates showing up to “pressing the flesh,” and networking with constituents at many of the large gatherings that occur every weekend this time of year. What happened to all the direct contact with voters?

To back up my point, I made a cross section of phone calls across the state. From Kentwood to Morgan City, Belle Chasse to Homer, and from Lutcher to Lake Providence, the message was almost always the same. The statewide candidates have been, almost without exception, no shows in these local communities. Retail politics have been put on the back burner. It’s all about television, often paid for by out of state special interest groups.

I published a book four years ago by political columnists Tyler Bridges and Jeremy Alford about Governor John Bel Edwards’ victory called “Long Shot.” They both have seen a major change by candidates reaching out to voters. Bridges put it this way. “Blame the change on the rise of television ads and, lately, the importance of social media as a tool to reach out to voters.”

The three major candidates for governor seem to feel that the return is not worth their political investment to attend these annual gatherings, particularly in smaller communities. Their view is that they can get to the public on TV, and not spend the time with voters at the local level. I would respectfully disagree.

You can get a lot of bang for your buck by getting out among the locals. And in this day of growing social media, your contacts actually grow a number of times more than the crowd in attendance. Everyone now carries their cell phone cameras for “selfies” with friends as well as celebrities. Attending a festival can produce photos galore on Facebook, Twitter, and other social Internet outlets, as well as good fodder for the candidates to circulate themselves.

Statewide candidates may think that dollar raising for TV spots makes good political sense. But it is a slap at their constituents, and unhealthy for a democracy. Louisiana deserves better. Maybe we do need a third choice. In Nevada, if voters don’t like their options on the ballot, they can vote for “none of the above.” An idea worth considering in future Louisiana elections?

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

Louisiana is the only state in the South and the most conservative state in the nation with a Democrat Governor. Donald Trump earned 58% of the vote in Louisiana in 2016 and there is a decent chance that a Governor who supported Hillary Clinton will be re-elected on October 12 without being forced into a run-off.

Governor John Bel Edwards is a Democrat with conservative views on social issues such as gun rights and abortion. However, he also has liberal fiscal policies. Nonetheless, he is is in a comfortable lead in the homestretch of the race.

The latest poll by Market Research Insight surveyed 400 voters between August 16-19. It showed Edwards winning with 52% of the vote, followed by Congressman Ralph Abraham at 25% and businessman Eddie Rispone at 19%. The poll’s margin of error was 4%. If these are the actual results for the primary election, the Governor will win a second term and there will be no run-off needed.

Certainly, it is difficult to beat an incumbent Governor of Louisiana. It has not happened since 1991, when Governor Buddy Roemer lost in the primary election and there was a run-off between Republican David Duke and Democrat Edwin Edwards.

The 1991 race was the most high-profile Louisiana Governor’s election in history, leading to national media attention, a massive 78% voter turnout and bumper stickers imploring voters to “Vote for the Crook, It’s Important.” It was the type of unusual circumstance that allowed an incumbent Governor to lose. In contrast, the current Governor’s race is relatively boring in comparison with little voter interest.

Over the next five weeks, it is imperative that the Louisiana Republican Party, all the party’s top elected officials and the two leading gubernatorial candidates concentrate their attention on bringing down the support level of Governor Edwards.

The state’s congressional delegation needs to take a much higher level of interest in the race. It would also be helpful to have President Trump visit Louisiana before October 12 and campaign for the Republican candidates in the state. He does not need to make an endorsement, just implore voters to support a GOP candidate for Governor.

Without that type of concerted and sustained effort it will be difficult to beat Governor Edwards. He has a political war chest of more than $10 million, which he is using to advertise extensively on television and radio. One of his major messages is that he saved the state from former Governor Bobby Jindal’s fiscal recklessness and created a budget surplus. Of course, he accomplished that feat by massively increasing taxes by billions of dollars on the struggling people of Louisiana.

At least the Republican candidates are not attacking each other, which is what happened in 2015. It is a major reason why John Bel Edwards won the Governor’s race. In this election, it is another golden opportunity that the Louisiana GOP will lose if they allow Edwards to win another term.

From his liberal “tax and spend” fiscal policies to his controversial criminal justice reform proposals, Edwards is vulnerable. There are plenty of reasons for the voters of Louisiana to fire their incumbent Governor; however, they need to be frequently reminded of his record during his four years in office.

The political clock is ticking, and the anti-Edwards messages need to start now. If his opponents wait too long, it will be lost in the last-minute overload of political commercials as Election Day nears. The next two weeks will be critical and will determine whether Governor John Bel Edwards will win a second term or not.

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs locally at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and at 10:00 p.m. Sundays on PBS affiliate WLAE-TV, Channel 32, and from 7-11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990-AM & www.Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on www.JeffCrouere.com. For more information, email him at jeff@jeffcrouere.com

When qualifications for elections in Louisiana concluded recently, only two of the seven statewide officials are facing major and well-funded opposition. Incumbent Governor John Bel Edwards faces eight challengers including five republicans. But only two GOP candidates are considered serious; Congressman Ralph Abraham from Northeast Louisiana and Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone.

Under Louisiana’s convoluted “jungle primary system,” all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run against each other at the same time. So it’s possible for two aspirants in the same party to face each other in a run off. Under the old system that operated up until 1972, republicans and democrats held separate primaries. If candidates did not receive at least 50% of the vote in their respective primaries, then a run-off would take place. But then, the victor had to run a third race in the general election.

It’s a system put in place by former Governor Edwin Edwards so he could avoid having to face both a democratic challenger then a republican opponent in a general election. The system worked well for the previous Governor Edwards as he went on to win three addition terms in office. But now it would seem to work against current Governor John Bel Edwards. If he cannot win re-election in the first primary scheduled for October 12th, he may appear to be vulnerable, and then the Trump factor becomes a major concern for John Bel.

The President is expected to stay out of the current gubernatorial race, particularly since there are two major republican candidates. Governor Edwards seems to have a decent relationship with the President, and has been invited by Trump to attend several state dinners at the White House. Edwards regularly ballyhoos that Trump has told him he is the president’s favorite democrat.

A number of early polls place the Governor’s popularity above 50%, and within striking distance of getting more than that margin in the first primary. But if John Bel cannot win an all-out victory on October 12th, the concern for democrats is that the President will jump into a runoff to support the republican challenger.

Such a scenario was actively pushed this week by Louisiana U.S. Senator John Kennedy. Many in Louisiana felt that Kennedy would challenge Edwards himself in the governor’s race, and he was considered by most political observers to be Edwards’ strongest opponent. Kennedy has been critical of Edwards’ performance as governor for several years. He has accumulated a large campaign war chest and looked to be on the verge of jumping into the race.

When asked about running for governor against Edwards just a few months ago, the Senator said: “I’m really torn,”, plainly agonizing over the decision. “I enjoy the job of being a Louisiana senator. On the other hand, my state’s in a lot of trouble.”

But Kennedy’s national reputation has grown, and he has become the “go to” politician in Washington for clever and funny quotes. He called out a Trump judicial nominee by saying: "Just because you’ve seen "My Cousin Vinny" doesn’t qualify you to be a federal judge." With the right political name and a growing solid reputation in Washington, Kennedy has opted to stay involved on the national scene. The Edwards forces have breathed a sigh of relief.

Edwards will make an all-out effort to win re-election in the coming October primary. He knows well that if he is forced into a run-off, President Trump will be actively lobbied by key Louisiana republicans to come into the state and actively support the republican challenger, either Abraham or Rispone. Although the President’s popularity has dipped in recent national polls, he still maintains a strong favorable rating in the Bayou State. So his presence in a run-off would be welcomed by Edward’s opponent.

With the first primary election less than two months away, look for an all-out TV and radio blitz by Edwards, Abraham and Rispone. If the Governor fails to win in the first primary, Louisiana voters will buckle up for knock down drag out political circus in the November general election.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9:00 am till 11:00 am Central Time on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

A year and a half ago, according to a Bernie Pinsonat--Southern Media Opinion Research poll, John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, polled at a whopping 65 percent. Today, Pinsonat believes Edwards polls in the low 50’s.

Edwards is up for re-election against major candidates such as Congressman Ralph Abraham and multi-millionaire Eddie Rispone.

So, what gives? The Louisiana budget crises, for now, is a thing of the past. The last legislative session this spring was boring, meaning, it was successful. A storm just slammed Louisiana which emergencies normally help a governor show leadership during a crises. So, why would there be a drop of perhaps fifteen percent since last year?

Based upon the interview with Pinsonat, the answer is simple. Edwards is a Democrat. His two major opponents are Republicans. Louisiana is as red of a state as they come. It’s election time and its time for the cows to come home. Retaking the 4 floor of the Capitol and the Governor’s mansion is mission critical #1 for the Louisiana GOP.

But, as Pinsonat states, “you can't beat somebody with nobody”.

Of course, that’s true. Yet, we’re in August and have not even cooked our Labor Day hot dogs and hamburgers. The Louisiana voters are still in the “Ralph and Eddie, who’s dat” stage. Right now, Edwards’s main opponent appears to be another unknown, “the undecideds”. With advertising, which still has not gone into full force and more controversial news articles, rallies and statewide debates, the undecided’s will weaken, and one or both of the two Republican candidates will strengthen. In short, the nobody’s are certainly likely to somebody’s, and fast.

Last week, Bernie Pinsonat and I discussed the upcoming gubernatorial race. Below is a transcript of part two. Here is the initial segment which ended with the pollster stating straight out-- that a big hit against John Bel Edwards is the fact that he has a “demo tag on him”

So, we pick up with the interview with Pinsonat stating:

But so but normally, Jindal was never below 55-57 right percent for reelection. Mike Foster was in the 60s, when he ran for election. We all know what Blanco was, knew Blanco was severely underwater, and mid 30s for reelection. So those of the stats we have to look at. So Jindal and Foster, you know, we're never in any trouble for reelection. But, of course, they were republicans and they had, they ended up with minor opposition. But the reason why they ended up with minor opposition was because they were so popular when they ran for election and John Bel can say he's, he's--

Now one of the things that is interesting. And everybody use my poll two years ago, I showed you that 65% of popular job performance, which was an incredibly good number. A lot of people wrote about it. But if you look at those numbers today, you know, he's in the low 50s. for popularity. He got probably just got a little bump, but that was a nobody merely mentioned that. But why Pinsonat poll show him in the mid 60s, and all of a sudden, he down into the, to the low 50s a year -and a-half later. So the sessions took its toll on him, being a Republican, of the republican lot of Republicans coming back home white Republicans. So he's had some serious erosion, at least 10 points in a year and a half with his job performance, but it still doesn't mean he's not gonna get reelected, because you know, you can't beat somebody with nobody. Is those two guys aren't performing maximum their base of white republicans That plus 15% of more supporting him, John Bel Edwards is right now they've got they've got to beat him. So, you know, he, you know, he has the advantage right now, it's up to them to change to change that advantage. But there's been no poll showing that he's there. The two of them are over 50%.

Okay, you saying there's no poll that shows the two of them are over? 50%? So there's a lot of uncertainty.

Yeah, there, there there, you know, Eddie, a month and a half ago, nobody knew him. And he responded was probably eight or 9%, where Ralph Abrham has all of North Louisiana to himself and why he's choosing, the 20s or so if you, if you five him even 30%, you give Eddie 10%, that's 40, so they wouldn't cause a runoff. And that's the name of the game, they got to be able to cause--they've got a combination, they need each other, they need both of them to do well. Both of them have their total number together has to be over 50% or John Bel Edwards is going to be reelected. And that's where we are today, and that's what we're all watching io see what happens. And, you know, again, after Labor Day, the governor's race title literally starts picking up. Qualifying, we picked up a little bit, it'll pick up after Labor Day, and by the second week of September, you know, the race will really be in high gear.

Okay, so one last question in that is that earlier today, you said that you're basically the two Republicans, obviously have got to get over 50% combined. So that means they can they should not attack one another? Because that's going to reduce the probabilities that their supporters are going to actually go out and vote for their their their candidate, am I correct?

Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's no way. If one of them was at 50% and he wanted to make sure that he won in the primary, you may attack other republican but at the present time, you really want to--candidates attack each other in the runoff, or if it's a two person race, because it's you know, it's do or die that race, but when you have multiple candidates, generally, as we saw with Vitter, and I mean, this is politics, 101--when one candidate attacks another candidate, and they're more than the three or four candidates in the race. The person that's not being attacked generally goes up, the person doing the attacking generally gets hurt somewhat, and the person he's attacking may get hurt a lot. So there was a classic scenario we watched unfold in 2016, where David started attacking his fellow Republicans, and they started attacking him back in between the three them, hey did, they all did very poorly. And they literally and Vitter, in fact caused John Bel Edwards to walk into to the governor's mansion in the runoff. With with David Vitter being of being in no consequence. For a republican to do as poorly as he did., it was it, you know, it was shocking to see what transpired,wheere three republicans destroyed each other and elected john Bel Edwards. He just sat down the whole time and watch them. I mean, if you painted a scenario that was favorable to ohn Bel Edwards, you couldn't dream up something like want a card, pull it in a political scenario, that there's no way John Bel Edwards would have been Angelle. There's no way he would have beat Jay Dardenne, and Vitter would have been without all the negative stuff.

Most people thought he (Vitter) would have been him (Edwards). But Vitter turned out to be probably the least likely to beat of the three. But most of us thought he would probably struggle, but he would win because he's a republican. And and so all of the possible scenarios, you can think of other republicans all turn sour. And it was just it was a it was a classic and it ought to be studied. In every political class in Louisiana, that race will go down and really weird. Fundamentally, it reinforced what we all knew--that when there's multiple candidates and two and two of them engage in a vicious campaign against each other, generally not that neither of those candidates do well, and the person who's not being attacked or sitting on the sidelines does well, not because of anything that he or she has done she has done because his opponents basically put him in the driver's seat to win the election.

The office of the current Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwaards has announced the arrangements for remembrance of former Governor Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco who died on Sunday.

Here are the arragements which includes Governor Blanco's body lie in state at the Louisiana capitol rotunda:

Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will lie in state on Thursday, August 22, in the State Capitol Rotunda as part of a three-day Celebration of Life for the former governor, who passed away on Sunday following a courageous battle with cancer. Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will lie in state on Thursday, August 22, in the State Capitol Rotunda as part of a three-day Celebration of Life for the former governor, who passed away on Sunday following a courageous battle with cancer.

Governor John Bel Edwards has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff until after the funeral Mass on Saturday, August 24.

Thursday’s remembrance will begin in Baton Rouge with an Interfaith Service at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, before an honor procession at the State Capitol, where she will be met with a military salute on the front steps and then lie in state for public visitation.

On Friday, there will be a public visitation and prayer service in Governor Blanco’s beloved Acadiana. On Saturday, a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in Lafayette before a private burial.

SCHEDULE OF PUBLIC EVENTSThursday, August 2210 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Celebration of Life Interfaith ServiceSt. Joseph Cathedral401 Main StreetBaton Rouge, LA 70802Note: This service will be broadcast by Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

12:30 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. Honor Procession Louisiana State Capitol (Front Steps)900 North Third StreetBaton Rouge, LA 70802Note: Access to the State Capitol steps and the Rotunda will be limited beginning at noon.

1 p.m. – 6 p.m. Gov. Blanco Lies in State Louisiana State Capitol Rotunda900 North Third StreetBaton Rouge, LA 70802Note: Access to the State Capitol steps and the Rotunda will be limited beginning at noon. Visitors should enter through the basement of the Capitol and will be guided through to the Rotunda. For security purposes, no bags larger than a small purse will be allowed.

Friday, August 2312:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. Public Visitation St. John the Evangelist Cathedral (Cathedral Hall)914 St. John StreetLafayette, LA 70501Note: There will be a Recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3 p.m. in Cathedral Hall and a prayer service from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturday, August 248 a.m. – 10 a.m. Public Visitation St. John the Evangelist Cathedral (Cathedral Hall)914 St. John StreetLafayette, LA 70501

10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Reflections and Mass of Christian Burial St. John the Evangelist Cathedral515 Cathedral StreetLafayette, LA 70501Note: This service will be broadcast live by Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Following the services, there will be a private burial.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONMemorialsIn lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Governor Kathleen Blanco Public Policy Center, via the University of Louisiana - Lafayette Foundation, 705 East St. Mary Blvd, Lafayette, LA 70504 or online at Give.louisiana.edu.

SecurityAccess to the State Capitol steps and Rotunda will be limited on Thursday, August 22, beginning at noon. Visitors are encouraged to carpool and park in the lots along River Road, as parking in front of the Capitol will be limited. No large bags will be allowed at any of the memorial events.Visitors who wish to pay their respects on Thursday in the Rotunda will enter through the basement of the State Capitol, where they will be guided through to the first floor of the Capitol. There will be no access from the front steps. Seating will not be available for those waiting in line.Seating for the public may be limited at Thursday’s Interfaith Service and Saturday’s Mass of Christian Burial. There will be an overflow area at the Mass in Lafayette on Saturday where the service will be broadcast.

The debate over abortion continues to rage among our citizens. It is the most divisive political issue in our country. It is also the main reason there is so much contention whenever there is an opening on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Liberals realize that the decision establishing abortion rights, Roe v. Wade, may be overturned if President Donald Trump is allowed to successfully nominate another conservative Supreme Court Justice.

It is a major reason why pro-choice activists are working overtime to defeat Trump in the 2020 election. The Democratic Party is the political home for these activists and the party will surely nominate a presidential candidate who is pro-choice on the abortion issue. In fact, pro-life Democrats are becoming a very rare breed indeed.

Interestingly, Louisiana has one of these unusual politicians as Governor, John Bel Edwards. He has genuinely campaigned and governed as a pro-life Democrat. In fact, Edwards signed a bill which will protect the life of an unborn baby once a fetal heartbeat is detected. If it is implemented and survives legal challenges, the bill will protect the life of an unborn baby as young as six weeks old. It will also require an ultrasound before an abortion can be performed.

Politically, one of the reasons that the Governor can openly express his pro-life views is that he knows that his position is popular in Louisiana. A recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute discovered that Louisiana is the most pro-life state in the nation with 60% of the respondents maintaining that abortion should be illegal. The survey showed a mere 34% of the participants support abortion rights in “most or all cases.” The nationwide results are much different with only 40% supporting a pro-life position and 54% supporting the pro-choice viewpoint.

This is another case where the people of Louisiana are at odds with the rest of the nation. It also shows how Governor Edwards is at odds with the vast majority of his fellow Democrats, especially those located outside of Louisiana.

In his upcoming race for re-election, Edwards will need to have the strong financial backing of national Democrats who are pro-choice. He will also have to convince more liberal pro-choice Democrats in Louisiana to support him despite his pro-life views, while, simultaneously, persuading more moderate Democrats, Independents and Republicans that he is truly pro-life and to support him as well.

It is a balancing act that will require tremendous campaign skills, but we have seen impressive political dexterity from Edwards in the past few years. Nevertheless, one surefire way for his opponents to score political points against Edwards is to tie him to the unpopular views of the national Democratic Party. Surely, Edwards will have to support the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. This nominee, whether it is former Vice President Joe Biden or any of the other candidates, will be staunchly pro-choice.

His opponents can ask how can Edwards be truly pro-life if he will support a Democratic Party presidential nominee, who, if elected, will nominate pro-choice U.S. Supreme Court judges? In actuality, while professing pro-life views, Edwards supports a party and candidates who support abortion rights and nominate judges to make sure it will always be a legal right in this country.

This may be one of the many issues that Edwards will have to address in the weeks ahead as he attempts to win a second term. He certainly has the power of incumbency, the support of statewide media, an impressive war chest and a record that he believes merits a second term. However, one of his major liabilities is that he is a member of a political party that is unpopular in Louisiana. If his opponents can closely tie him to that liberal party platform, and the progressive candidates that lead the Democratic Party, he will be in danger of losing.

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs locally at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and at 10:00 p.m. Sundays on PBS affiliate WLAE-TV, Channel 32, and from 7-11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990-AM & www.Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on www.JeffCrouere.com. For more information, email him at jeff@jeffcrouere.com

Well, not actually. If you've been laboring over Louisiana favorite sport lately, the once-every-four-years gubernatorialcampaign, you can rest a spell. The ponies really haven't even goten up to the starting gate. Not yet. And that won't take place, according to Louisiana pollster Bernie Pinsonat, until after Labor Day. And when it does arrive and we all collectively wake up and smell the prospects of a real horse race, all bets could be off as to the outcome.

Well, kinda.

We know with almost absolute certainty that the current mansion occupant will be the primary election winner. But by how many lengths or in other words, will there be a runoff? And if so, who will come in "Place" on October 12.to be eligible to compete in the runoff derby? It appears, at least based upon our interview with Pinsonat, there's no sure bet, at all.

In other words, Pinsonat feels it's way too early to begin predicting whether Governor John Bel Edwards will be be re-elected come primary night. Who might be lined up along with him is still to early to even come close to call. While Edwards is generally popular or as popular as a Democrat can be in a Republican red state, there are too many factual and political uncertainties.

What are they? And, how;s the turf with less than two months left until primary day?

Below is part one of my telephone interview earlier this morning with Pinsonat. On Monday, we will publish part two of the Pinsonat racing form.

So once you tell us at this point we're a few months away from the elections. What's your overall impression in terms of just the let's take the governor's race?

Well as a pollster I speak from numbers and present time, you know, the the the polling numbers I'm seeing or some of the candidates or I've seen some so called independents, but they were I guess you could say Robo type calls. I don't have a lot of faith with those. But I think the race, I don't really think anybody knows where we are right now. But unless you're running a you know, unless you ran a poll last night. The question is, can Eddie and Ralph Abraham , Eddie Rispone Ralph Abraham together get enough votes to cause a runoff. And I think it's in the governor Edwards best interest to win in the primary, I don't think you need to be a political scientist to figure out that it would be difficult for him to win in Louisiana in a run off. It would be possible but you know, we don't know what it'll look like, the day after the runoff. But under normal circumstances, it would be difficult. So the real question is can Eddie Rispone and the Ralph combined to get 50 plus percent. And that's the bigger and that's what we just don't know, the Governor is running. massive television now, Rispone is running massive television now. The guy who's at a disadvantage, but he is running television now is Congressman Ralph Abraham. So you know, if they look at their campaigns and looking at each other from across the street, because they're all separate campaigns, they really need each other, they need for one or both of them to do well. And then the best man win is the way they should be approaching it. Because if one of them doesn't do well, it's now highly unlikely that they would, that Edwards would face a run off. So they need, both of them need to do well. And that's where we are right now. We won't have a better picture that probably till mid September. You know, about a month out. As more of these polls come out and all the ads and people start paying more attention. People are not going to pay a lot of attention to this election till after Labor Day. That's traditional Louisiana. Our campaigns are very short now they last about five weeks, six weeks and maximum. So we're not there yet. The public's not that engaged. And polling right now is probably not that accurate. But the political fact is that John Bel Edwards needs to win in the primary and can he do that? He certainly can. His his he needs he needs Eddie or Ralph to to not catch on, not to pick up a lot of votes especial Rispone is the one that with that kind of money is a real danger to him. Not to say that Ralph isn't but Eddie, he's got so much money, then if his ads are good, and he catches on and he starts, picking up, you know, large numbers of voters then, you know, that would likely cause a run off. If he goes into the runoff. And he's under 40. Under 45%. It would be highly unlikely the governor would win reelection, but that's speculating past the runoff. And what's important now to the governor and to Eddie and to Ralph is what happens around October 12. And that's going to probably 70%. Whatever happens at the end, that it's probably a 60. Plus, if it's good news for the republicans, it'll certainly be very bad news for Edwards. But he's not worried about the governor's doing what he should be doing the he's worried about October 12. If he can, if he can get his 50.1% he could care less how either of them do, he's done well enough to win another, neither of them have done well enough to cause a run off. So end of story for the republicans and a democrat will occupy the mansion for another four years.

Okay. So based on the polls that you said that you did one last night, do you have any results that you can share? Or…

No, I said unless there was a poll done last night, I don't really think anybody knows what the current status of this race is, unless you have overnight data and then that data is going--will change. Because you Eddie's not known. Eddie Rispone is not known. The governor is not at 51 or 52% in any poll I've seen-- he could be as of today, but I haven't seen any poll published with that. If he remains under 45% going into the into the primary October 12. It would that would be, that will be interesting to see if he can get from 45 to 51 Sure, it would tend to show that he's probably not going to make it he needs to be closer to 50 to get over 51 especially with the amount of money that starting to be spent attacking him. And and the money that Eddie Rispone has to stay up on TV from now till October 12. And so, it's a lot of ifs.

Okay, are you saying that the independent polls that you've seen that and most of them you say, or have been Robo, so you don't trust them as much or at all.

And those that are are, say, candidate polls, that Edwards is not above 45%.

Well, the last poll I saw that was a was a live operator poll was done by john john George's group, and it certainly did not show the governor above 45. It showed him in the low 40s. We we did have a an event occur where there was a lot of the governor was on television a lot. And I'm sure you got a bump from that in his in his job performance. But, you know, since then, is there a poll showing that that bump in top performers push that the total voters that say they're going to vote for him? Did he push it close to 50%? Did it stay at 42? That it get to 45? You know, I haven't seen a live operator poll recently that would enlighten us on the way the race stands right now. But the there was a poll --published by the-- written by Todd Bridges, and it was a focus more on Trump not being as popular Louisiana and his coattails may not be as long which nobody believed by the way. But it it. It did have stuff in the governor's race. That was I didn't think it was great news for the governor because it showed his his reelect and current vote totals below 45%, which for an incumbent governor. And I could say that it's not that good, but you're talking about an incumbent democratic governor of Louisiana who is well financed who is generally popular across the state. But he does have a demo tag on him.

A voter would think that former Governor Bobby Jindal is running again in the coming fall elections. Rarely does current Gov. John Bel Edwards make a speech where he does not lay all the state’s financial woes at the feet of Jindal. Why has Jindal become such a political punching bag with such a high negative among Louisiana voters?

We can turn to political sage and former Louisiana state senator Sixty Rayburn, who was well known for his folksy sayings during legislative sessions. He often urged his colleagues to never forget the folks back home when deciding issues at the state capitol. Sixty put it this way. “Always dance with the one that brought you.” It’s a lesson Bobby Jindal forgot during his final years as governor and during his quixotic campaign for president.

Jindal’s early appeal was that he was a young, articulate republican governor with an Indian American background. He wasn’t just another old white guy that has been the foundation of the national Republican Party in recent years. Most Louisianans don’t remember what a dynamo of youth and energy he radiated in his early political career. He was insatiable in traveling the state and seeking out problems to solve.

I remember back in 2005, following Hurricane Katrina, when I was having lunch with a local south Louisiana mayor. Jindal was a congressman at that time, but did not represent that part of the state. The mayor commented that Jindal regularly called to offer federal help, and shared his cell phone number. “He was doing the same for other officials all over the state,” he remembered. “The young fellow seemed to be everywhere.”

Jindal took the same approach in his early tenure as governor. His governing style was “hands on,” and he was readily available to the press and to the public. In fact, he was criticized by some for traveling each Sunday to a different church in the state, particularly in north Louisiana. His popularity was sky high.

But then his hubris got the best of him. National republicans, desperate to show that the GOP could grow a bigger tent, began embellishing the young governor as a future national leader. Ego took over, and Jindal began his quest to build a national image while ignoring Louisiana concerns. Governing Louisiana became an afterthought

Jindal counted on his policy experience as being a plus in attracting voters. Governor, congressman, and heading up health and education departments all were part of his resume’ of being a policy wonk. But most voters are not wonks. Numerous think tankers have been telling voters how to solve the nation’s problems for years, but with feeble success. Jindal got little traction with his institutional knowledge.

As his national campaign floundered, in desperation Jindal started lobbing grenades. He became incendiary in his rhetoric, staking out extreme positions on numerous issues that turned many voters off. Jindal’s rabble-rousing press releases were looked on by the national press as desperate efforts of a dying campaign.

But when all was said and done, it was the voters of Louisiana that pulled the plug on Jindal’s national ambitions. While Jindal traveled the country and abandoned his responsibilities as governor, financial problems continued to mount and voter frustrations boiled over. When he left office, Jindal’s unfavourability rating was at 70 percent, the worst rating by any governor in the past 100 years.

Louisianans became fed up with a chief executive who discarded his state responsibilities to further his own personal agenda. And this frustration was recognized by the national press. The line on Jindal across the country was that if he could not handle problems at home, how could he lead on a national level? Jindal’s demise did not happen on the campaign trail. He shot himself in the foot by ignoring Louisiana problems.

Jindal will no doubt continue to be blamed for all the state’s woes for years to come. Republicans did it for years putting the blame on Edwin Edwards. Beating up on past political leadership may be good politics, but it does not address solving the state’s fiscal mess. After campaign season, it will be time to move on.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9:00 am till 11:00 am Central Time on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

If you didn't know better, you might think that President Donald Trump was running for governor as a Republican against John Bel Edwards, the incumbent and a Democrat.

Newbie political candidate, Eddie Rispone, a Baton Rouge businessman, who has his own rags to riches story to tell, essentially has made Trump his running mate with his TV advertising. Rispone backs Trump, donated to him and mentions the president throughout the ads. Rispone, a virtual unknown in the state had to introduce himself to the voters for the first time. He chose to align himself with the national figure that the vast majority of Republican voters adore.

Obviously, his goal would be that when you think of Rispone, the vision of Trump enters your brain. Theoretically, this strategy can work in the general election when the goal is to win as much of the Republican and conservative Democrats and independents support, as possible. The ultimate question would be the impact when the candidate is a popular moderate Democrat incumbent, John Bel Edwards.

Rispone is not the first Louisiana political candidate who has brought the president into the campaign. Almost every Republican candidate for office on a statewide level and Congressional level seemed to remind the voters that if you wanted President Barack Obama in your home, church, office, playground, then the Democratic opponent would be your choice. That strategy worked almost all of the time but it failed during the Louisiana gubernatorial race in which Edwards upset Republican US Senator David Vitter. That election deserves an asterisk however because the opponent was Vitter, who seemed to be one of the most popular politicians in the state while also wearing the scarlet letter of perhaps the most-unpopular, too.

Of course, importing a national figure into the campaign such as Obama in a red state is normally a plus for the importer. But, former Commissioner of Administration and Republican Angele Davis tried it when she ran for State Treasurer. The imported was President Trump. She was not very successful regardless how often she would show his picture or say his name.

In the October 2017 election, Davis did manage to get roughly 21.64 percent of the vote but she failed to make the run-offs.

At that time, based upon a Morning Consult poll that tracks all states, as of October 1 2017, Trump enjoyed a 55% approval rating with a 39% disapproval in Louisiana. For reference sake, as of January 1, 2017, prior to Trump taking office, his approval was 59 to 28 approval vs. disapproval. Thus, he had dropped by 15 percent during that interval here in Louisiana between January 1 and November 1 2007.

Currently, based upon the same poll that came out earlier this week, Trump’s approval is 56% approval and 39% disapproval. Thus, there has been a !% gain in net approval compared to the October 2017 survey, the month of the State Treasurer’s election.

Rispone’s initial goal is to beat his Republican opponent Ralph Abraham and hope that Edwards has received less than 50% to trigger a runoff. We have a few months before the governor’s race and anything can happen in terms of Trump’s approval rate and within the governor’s race itself.

Abraham is no slouch when it comes to backing Trump. He has a record. In fact a very strong pro-Trump record. According to fivethirtyeight, Abraham has voted for Trump-supported legislation, a whopping 93.2% of the time. By comparison, Republican Congressman Steve Scalisse has a 99.2 % rating and Republican Congressman Mike Johnson, ties Abraham at 93.2%.

Just how long will Rispone co-star with Trump, at least in terms of his TV commercials, we will have to wait and see. Davis achieved a third place result out of a total of six candidates. Political importation of a national figure has worked well in the state. Both current US Senator Bill Cassidy and fellow Republican Rob Maness tied Obama around then-US Senator Mary Landrieu’s neck. In 2010, Vitter did the same in trouncing Democrat Congressman Charlie Melancon.

Getting votes by association with popular national figures works here in Louisiana when the national figure is greatly disliked. We’re not quite sure how it will succeed with a popular president of the same party in a raw red state-- especially since the main opponent can point to a real record of support for the head of the party and not just words.